The Ultimate Guide To Own Goals In Football

Own goals are a rather peculiar occurrence in football.

In the event that a player puts the ball into his own net, what would actually happen?

Here’s everything you could ever want to know about scoring an own goal in football.

What does OG mean in football?

‘OG’ is the abbreviation for own goal. This is usually used in match reports as a short form to highlight that a player has scored an own goal for the opponent team.

For example, there were 3 own goals during the Southampton’s 8-0 trashing of Sunderland in the 2014/15 Premier League season.

Here is the match report, which has ‘OG’ next to players who scored an own goal.

Vergini, Bridcutt and van Aanholt are all Sunderland players. However, all of them scored an own goal during the match! This is why their names are appearing on the scoreline for Southampton, instead of Sunderland.

To avoid any confusion, these players have OG beside their names, to show that they scored an own goal. If not, you may be wondering why these players are appearing on the scoresheet for the opposing team!

What happens if you score an own goal in football?

When you score an own goal, the opponent team will be awarded with a goal, just like how a normal goal is scored. Your team will be given the advantage and play will start from the kick-off.

An own goal is still a goal that is being scored.

However, it is just that the defending team scores the goal instead of the attacking team. In this case, the same procedures will occur when a goal is scored:

1. The attacking team is awarded a goal
2. The defending team will start from the ball from kick-off

Does an own goal count as a goal?

An own goal will count as a goal being scored by the opposing team. This is because a goal is still being scored in the match, just that it is scored by a player on the defending team, and not by the attacking team.

It doesn’t really matter who scores the goal, as a goal is still being scored!

Will the own goal be counted into the ‘goals scored’ statistic for the player?

Own goals and actual goals that are scored by a football player are 2 separate statistics. The own goals that players score will not be considered in their ‘goals scored’ statistic for the season or for their career.

For example, let’s look at the statistics that are being collected by the Premier League.

In the dropdown menu, you can see that goals are separate from own goals.

Here are the top goalscorers in the Premier League history,

while here are the players who scored the most number of own goals!

You can see that these 2 statistics are very different from each other.

Who gets credit for an own goal in soccer?

The player from the defending team who last touched the ball before it goes over the line will be the player who gets credited with the own goal. This is similar to how a player is credited for the goal if he is the attacker who last touched the ball.

When a goal is scored, the attacking player who last touched the ball will be credited with the goal.

The player who last touched the ball before it led to his teammate scoring the goal will be awarded with an assist.

In a similar fashion, the defending player who last touched the ball before it went into his net will be awarded with the own goal!

What happens if you score 3 own goals in football?

If you happen to score 3 own goals in the same match, all of these goals will be credited under your name. However, you will not be awarded with a hat-trick, as this will only be awarded to a player who scores 3 goals.

When a player scores 3 own goals, it must really be his unlucky day!

So far, there has not been any player who has scored 3 own goals in the same match. However, Jonathan Walters came close when he scored 2 own goals for Chelsea.

He even missed his penalty when given the chance to redeem himself! All in all, it was a horrible day for Walters.

Does an own goal count in a hat-trick?

An own goal scored by a player will not be counted in a hat-trick. A hat-trick is only awarded to players who score 3 goals, and an own goal is not counted as a goal being scored by the player.

A hat-trick is just one of the many nicknames when a player scores more than 2 goals in the same match.

You may be looking at taking the match ball home after you score 3 goals in the same match. However, if one of them is an own goal, you actually did not score a hat-trick!

This is because an own goal is not the same as a goal being scored.

Here are some players who have scored both a goal and an own goal in the Premier League.

Does an own goal count towards Golden Boot?

Own goals do not count towards the goal tally that ultimately decides the winner of the Golden Boot for the season. The Golden Boot is awarded to the player who scores the most number of goals in the tournament, and does not include the number of own goals being scored.

The Golden Boot is awarded to the top goalscorer in a certain tournament. This can be found in most competitions, such as:

1. Premier League
2. World Cup
3. Champions League

For this award, it only counts goals that the player scored, and not own goals!

If own goals were to count in the Golden Boot, then it may be possible that players will try to score lots of own goals. This will defeat the purpose of the Golden Boot to award the top goalscorer in the tournament.

Similar to above, goals and own goals are 2 separate statistics. As such, they will not be counted in the goal tally for the Golden Boot.

What happens if you score an own goal on purpose?

When you score an own goal on purpose, a goal will still be credited to the opposing team. If you truly scored the own goal on purpose, your manager may sub you off and ban you from playing for the season for unsportsmanlike behaviour.

Most own goals are usually accidental. This can happen if you are in the wrong place at the wrong time when your opponents are attacking your goal.

However, there are some moments where own goals are purposely scored, such as this bizarre moment in a match between Grenada and Barbados.

In another scenario, a player (Hashmin Musah) in Ghana’s top flight competition purposely scored 2 own goals. He claimed that he wanted to ‘foil the pre-arranged score of 5-1‘ in the match between Inter Allies and Ashanti Gold.

This has received quite a lot of controversy. In the end, Musah was even charged with match-fixing by the Ghanian FA!

In the event that you do score an own goal on purpose, you are putting your team at a huge disadvantage. Your manager may decide to substitute you off the pitch, and may even ban you from playing!

It is truly an unsportsmanlike behaviour to purposely score an own goal.

Can you score an own goal from a free kick?

You are unable to score an own goal from a free kick. According to Law 13 in the Laws of the Game, if you score an own goal from an indirect or direct free kick, no goal will be awarded and the opponent team will have a corner kick instead.

Here is what was mentioned in the Laws of the Game:

If a direct or indirect free kick is kicked directly into the team’s own goal, a corner kick is awarded

IFAB

This scenario most likely happens if you have a free kick at your defending area, and you decide to pass the ball back to the keeper.

If the goalkeeper does not touch the ball and it directly rolls into the goal from the free kick, a corner kick will be awarded to your opponents.

However, if the goalkeeper touches the ball, it will count as an own goal!

This is similar to how you can score an own goal from a throw in, if the goalkeeper touches the ball.

Can you score an own goal from an indirect free kick?

You are unable to score an own goal from an indirect free kick. If you kick the ball into your own net from an indirect free kick, the opposing team will be awarded with a corner kick, but will not be given a goal.

A free kick is also one of the set pieces where you are able to be called offside.

Can you score an own goal from a corner?

It is not possible to score an own goal directly from an attacking corner. According to the Laws of the Game, a corner kick will be awarded to the opposing team in the event that you score into your own goal from an attacking corner kick.

However, it is possible to score an own goal if the attacking team takes a corner, and a player in the defending team puts the ball in his own net.

Law 17 mentions this rather bizarre rule:

A goal may be scored directly from a corner kick, but only against the opposing team; if the ball directly enters the kicker’s goal a corner kick is awarded to the opponents .

IFAB

This is an extremely unlikely scenario that would certainly be the most bizarre thing ever to have happened in football!

Just imagine this: for this scenario to happen, you will need to kick the ball from the corner at the opponent’s end, all the way to your own goal.

Even if you really wanted to score an own goal from your own corner kick, it is virtually impossible!

However, it is possible for you to score an own goal, if your opponents are taking the corner kick at your goal area.

This usually happens when you accidentally put the ball in your own net while defending the attack.

The corner kick is also one of the 3 set pieces where you can’t be called offside.

Conclusion

An own goal occurs when the player that last touched the ball before it enters the net comes from the defending team.

This does not mean that the player from the defending team has scored a goal! A goal will be awarded to the attacking team, and this own goal will not count towards the player’s ‘goal scored’ statistics.

However, sometimes it can be rather hard to determine if the goal is considered as an own goal or a deflected shot. This does make it really hard as there are no official rules, and it is open to interpretation!

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